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How Much Does Shoe Weight Affect Performance?

February 6th, 2012      Comments
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The professor teaching class.

Question:  How much does shoe weight affect performance?

Dr. Jack Daniels: As a matter of fact I did the original research on shoe-weight factor, when I was working for Nike in the early 1980s and our research was presented at the World Congress of Sports Medicine in Vienna in the early 1980s. We found adding 100 grams to the shoe increased the aerobic demand of running by 1%. Now 100 grams is about 3.5274 ounces, so each ounce changes the cost of running about 0.2835% (1/3.5274= 0.2835). If you can run a mile in 5:40, that is going 284 meters per minute and that speed of running typically coasts about 55.55 ml O2 per Kg body weight per minute.  1 less ounce will change the cost to about 55.7075 (from 55.55 above) and that VO2 will be associated with a running speed of 284.7 m/min and a mile time of 5:39.17, so about .83 seconds for a mile, per ounce less weight.  Read the rest of this entry »

Can’t Shake That Hamstring Injury?

February 3rd, 2012      Comments
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Once again we turn to our partner on injury prevention and treatment, Dr. Marc Bochner, for a comprehensive explanation on the different types of hamstring injuries and how to diagnose, treat and prevent in the first place. Hamstring injuries in runners are typically very stubborn and difficult to treat so we highly recommend reading this article.

Here he covers the common causes:

Read the rest of this entry »

Safety First

February 2nd, 2012      Comments
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Running while listening to music is very common these days and we’ve talked about the dangers and other reasons to avoid it here. We’ve all done it before and some love it more than others but since we’re the “Run SMART” guys we felt it necessary to make you aware of this new study…

From Businessweek:

The study illustrates the dangers of using devices such as music players with headphones, they wrote. While the risk of using mobile phones and other devices while driving is well documented, little is known about distraction associated with wearing headphones while walking, the authors wrote.

“Sensory deprivation that results from using headphones with electronic devices may be a unique problem in pedestrian incidents, where auditory cues can be more important than visual ones,” they wrote.

Next time I hit the roads I’ll turn the music off until I reach the trail.

Know Your Pace

January 31st, 2012      Comments
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Just added a new article to our media coverage page. Jack and Vince were both quoted at length in this Runner’s World article about finding your ideal running pace. We’ll be posting a lot about appropriate training paces soon…in fact…we’re planning a whole series on this stuff! This is what we pride ourselves on and Jack’s body of work really focuses on the importance of knowing the purpose of every workout and what your ideal pace should be to achieve optimal results.

ASSIGN WORKOUT TIMES
Once you’ve established your baseline 5k pace, use it to determine how fast to run your workouts. “Your goal is to create the least possible stress on your body that produces the maximum physiological benefits, not maximum stress to accomplish the same benefits,” says Jack Daniels, Ph.D., head coach with The Run S.M.A.R.T. Project. In other words, don’t run one second faster than necessary.

Read the entire article.

Dalit Medina Wins Age Group At Coyote Hill 10k

January 30th, 2012      Comments
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In her first race since joining The Run SMART Project Dalit Medina finished first in the 40-44 age group and 12th female overall at the Coyote Hill XC 10k. Her official time was 48:58 (7:46 per mile). Full results.

Dalit works with Run SMART coach Dr. Jack Daniels.

Flagstaff Running Community Has Its Own News Outlet

January 27th, 2012      Comments
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Keep up with all the latest news and results for the Flagstaff running community at Flagstaff Footnotes, a new project and the first of its kind, started by journalist and longtime Run SMART athlete Erin Strout.

Erin writes about how it all started:

There are so few places where Olympic athletes-in-training commingle freely with recreational weekend warriors, where the accountant in the next cubicle wins a major ultra-running race on any given Sunday, or close to 200 people of all ages, abilities, and backgrounds workout together on the track every Tuesday night, often under the watchful eye of a world-renowned coach. If you’re a runner in Flagstaff, AZ, there is a group and a place for you to thrive and we should highlight and celebrate that publicly. Read the rest of this entry »

It’s Time For An Inspection

January 26th, 2012      Comments
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Last week we posted a great video about active isolated stretching which helps prevent injuries and promotes faster recovery. But injury prevention is more than just stretching, it should also include proper rest week to week, a supplemental strength routine and running workouts that are personalized towards your goals and based on your running history and current fitness.

Beyond the tools available that we usually cover to help prevent injuries, every runner should also do a little self-inspection from time to time to gauge how their body is holding up. The key is to catch an imbalance or area of weakness in advance before it becomes a full blown injury. Running Times featured a great article titled, “How’s Your Running Body” by Phil Wharton that shows how you can quickly test the structural integrity of your running form. Below are the key elements of your running form the tests will measure. Read the rest of this entry »

Hayley Long Wins Auburn 10k

January 25th, 2012      Comments
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Hayley Long (pictured above) in route to winning the Auburn 10k, has now set two new PRs while following her very own personalized Jack Daniels Training Plan. Following her first plan this past summer Hayley set a new 5k PR and this past weekend following her second plan she set a new 10k PR in 43:52 (7:11 per mile). We should note the next female finisher was almost 5 minutes behind! See full results.

Transform Your Running With Active Isolated Stretching

January 19th, 2012      Comments
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At Run SMART it’s no secret we’re huge proponents of active isolated stretching and its ability to help prevent injuries and promote faster recovery. Every client receives an active stretching routine and are encouraged to incorporate it into their running routine as much as possible. Below is a great introductory video on the principles of active stretching versus static from the man who introduced the method to us, Phil Wharton of Wharton Performance.

We strongly recommend getting a rope and the book or DVD to help guide you through all the stretches. It will change your running dramatically over time.

JP Bonn Sets New PR Following Jack’s Plan

January 18th, 2012      Comments
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Congrats to Flagstaff, AZ native JP Bonn for setting a new marathon PR!

Thanks for the training plan! I finished the marathon in 3:47:40 beating my
goal of 4:00.  I was worried the training plan was too easy but I kept
the faith and it turned out great.

Start customizing your own training plan from legendary coach Jack Daniels.

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